Photo: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of UK towns: half of Thorpeness is over 62.3
29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns, against 4.6% in Thorpeness. The village counted 215 residents and 130 households at the 2021 Census. Across Thorpeness, 64% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Few places have so few households without a car or van: 8.5% here, fewer than in 89% of UK towns.
Thorpeness sits above 99% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (47%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
75–79 is the most common age band: 13% of residents, 3.7 times the share across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over. On the census count, 3.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 84 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 99% of UK towns: 1% of adults are full-time students
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Where 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Thorpeness has 20%. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
One-person households make up 48% in Thorpeness, more than in 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Suffolk’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
In Thorpeness the average household is 1.7 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. On average, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. Locally, 1.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Above 86% of UK towns: 46% of households live in a detached house
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
The share of households in terraced houses is 23%, against 24% across England’s towns. In Thorpeness, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment. The wider picture: just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
99% of residents have English as their main language, a share 90% of UK towns don’t reach
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (3.2%) and in Africa (3.2%). Residents born outside the UK are more common here than in 56% of UK towns.
No religion: 33% of residents, a lower share than 88% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 93% of Thorpeness · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Thorpeness, 93%. Residents with no religion: 37% across England’s towns, for comparison.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 94% of UK towns, at 25%
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
Here 51% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across England’s towns is 44%. Typically, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. On the census count, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care.
44% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 44% of adults in Thorpeness (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 14% (England’s towns: 18%).
No nearby town is as old as Thorpeness
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorpeness | 215 | — | 62.3 | 47% | 4.6% |
| Aldeburgh | 2,423 | 1.9 mi | 61.9 | 44% | 12% |
| Leiston | 5,919 | 2.3 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 22% |
| Saxmundham | 4,778 | 6 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Rendlesham | 3,185 | 9.2 mi | 40.6 | 17% | 35% |
| Wickham Market | 2,231 | 10.8 mi | 52 | 33% | 21% |
| Reydon | 2,369 | 11.1 mi | 59.2 | 40% | 17% |
| Framlingham | 3,831 | 11.9 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 27% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Suffolk’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Suffolk (or England), summed the same way as Thorpeness’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Thorpeness’s residents
What is the population of Thorpeness?
The 2021 Census counted 215 people in Thorpeness’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Thorpeness?
The median age was 62.3 at the 2021 Census. 3.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 47% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Thorpeness?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 6.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Thorpeness?
33% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 2.8% didn’t answer.
Is Thorpeness good for families?
4.6% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Thorpeness’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.